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 epending on where you live, you may or may not know what
"Southpark" is. For the uninitiated, "Southpark" is an
animated cartoon that shows on Comedy Central, a basic cable channel here in the
States. It stars 3rd graders Stan, Kenny, Eric, and Kyle, kids who
live in a small town in Colorado called Southpark. Although the kids have the
mouths of sailors (that means they curse a lot), they're also imbued with
insightful intelligence and are more often than not much smarter than the adults
around them.
The "Southpark" TV show is a master of satire,
taking the hot button subject of the week and turning it upside down. Because
the show stars 3rd graders who curse as a matter of course, it's hard
to imagine (and in fact, it's quite impossible) that the show would ever shy
away from any subject, no matter how controversial. As an example, one episode
features two physically and mentally handicapped kids beating each other to a
pulp in the aptly titled "Cripple Fight". Yes, the title of the
episode was "Cripple Fight" and those were two animated
handicapped kids beating the crap out of each other.
So it's no surprise that "Southpark" the movie is
just as crass, insightful, and as riotously funny as the TV show. Because the
movie is, well, a movie and rated R, it allows series creators/writers/voice
actors Trey Parker and Matt Stone to curse and not be censored. It goes without
saying that the "F" word flies left and right. The premise of
"Southpark" is rather convoluted, involving a recently killed Saddam
Hussein who takes over Hell and manipulates Satan, a cross-border war between
America and Canada, and attempted censorship of two foulmouth Canadian
comedians.
"Southpark" the movie is actually a reflection of
creators Parker and Stone and their experiences putting "Southpark"
the TV show on the air. The series was heavily protested, threatened, and
condemned as a sign the world was going to Hell when it came onto the scene
about five years ago. In recent years, the show has been accepted by mainstream
America as an insightful and satirical look on the world; a show that has a lot
to say, and just happens to use toilet humor as a means to an end. But the early
years of the TV show was not so kind to its creators, and as a result
"Southpark" the movie is most effective when it focuses on the topic
of censorship.
But don't think "Southpark" is a serious drama.
The TV show and the movie are filled with laughs, and in the movie the jokes
come hard and fast. At just 80 minutes, the movie moves well, the pacing is
quick and there is no lag time to be found. There are also some musical numbers,
but I didn't really care for them. (Both Parker and Stone are active musicians.)
It helps, though, that the musical numbers are funny and mostly involves sexual
practices and the correct and wrong way to do said practices.
It should be noted that "Southpark" is rated R,
which means this is not "My
Neighbor Totoro" by any stretch of the imagination. Besides crass and
vulgar language, there are a lot of cartoon nudity, sexual innuendos and
references, and even the appearance of a giant clitoris.
Which is to say "Southpark" the movie, like
"Southpark" the TV show, is not for kids.
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